The Five Crystals
by Rinoa Leonheart1
Summary: Two years after the fall of Ultimecia an enemy of two men named Cloud Strife and Vincent Valentine comes to ruin the life of Squall Leonhart. SquallRinoa, SeiferQuistis, VincentEllone FF78
1. Prologue

Author's Note 2: I fixed the problems in this chapter. And you can also find the sequel to this fic under my other pen name AngelofMercy86. Or you can click on my profile and find the link directly to the fic.

Author's Note: This is my first Final Fantasy fanfic. I don't know if any story like this has been done yet, but if so, I'm sorry and did not mean to copy you. Anyway, this story takes place right after Sorceress Ultimecia is defeated and then it goes to present time. I hope you enjoy!

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After the massive battle with Sorceress Ultimecia and after seeing a piece of his past, Squall Leonhart, the young seventeen year old member of SeeD, had been walking for what felt like thousands of miles. "_I'm lost_….." he thought. He was lost in Time Compression. He couldn't make it back alone. "_I have to find her_." The "her" was the beautiful seventeen- year-old named Rinoa Heartilly. She was the young woman who changed Squall's life forever. Squall was the kind of man who never wanted to be close to anyone for fear of losing that person. When he was a very little boy, he had a close friend named Ellone, but he called her "Sis" because she was like a sister to him. Squall woke up one morning and found her gone with no note or explanation. He vowed he would live the rest of his life alone, but it changed when he met Rinoa. He finally found Sis, he finally defeated the sorceress, and he found love, but that love was about to be taken away from him? "_No! I have to see her. I need to hear her voice._" He fell to his knees. He couldn't physically or emotionally go on. "Rinoa!" he called out.

He sighed and looked at the sky. "_We made a promise. If I see a shooting star, I have to go to Edea's house_." He shook his head and sighed. "There's not a star in the sky," he said. He looked up again, but this time he saw something floating towards him. He held out his hand and a gold feather landed. He looked at the feather and closed his eyes. There she was! "Rinoa!" he called out her name, but when she turned around, she didn't even look real. It was an illusion. He gasped when she suddenly disappeared. He then saw Rinoa again, but this time it was a vision of the night he first met her. "_These are memories_." He saw different images of her. All the memories and all the pain and love they shared. "_I can't take it_! _Rinoa! Where are you!_" He felt a single tear fall from his blue eyes. He fell to the ground and remembered no more.

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Squall found himself lying in bed. He opened his eyes and looked around. "You're finally awake." Came a female's voice.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"After being asleep for a week I don't expect you do recognize your home," she said.

Squall sat up and finally realized that he was home. In Balamb Garden. Standing in front of him was Dr Kadowaki. "What happened?" he asked.

"Rinoa found you unconscious," she explained. "She thought you were dead. The love you two shared brought you to Edea's house. Edea and Cid brought you and Rinoa here. You obviously went through a lot of hard ships during the time compression."

"Where is she?" he asked. "Are the others alright?"

"Rinoa, Quistis, Irvine, Zell and Selphie are all fine," she said.

His companions and his friends. Quistis Trepe: Squall's instructor. Selphie Tilmit and Zell Dincht: members of SeeD and Squall's friends. Irvine Kinneas: member a Galbadia Garden and Squall's new friend.

"They are at the party right now," The doctor said.

"Is Rinoa there?" he asked.

"Yes, they did not want to start the party without you, but---"

"That's alright," he said. He then got out of bed and walked to the closet.

"I'll leave you alone to change," she said.

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Squall entered the party room and found all the people having fun, talking and clowning around. The first person he spotted was Selphie. She was dressed in her normal short yellow field dress and to his surprise, she was wearing Irvine's cowboy hat. "_I knew they'd end up together_," he thought. He ran up to her. "Selphie."

"Squall! Whoo-hoo! You're awake!" she exclaimed.

"Where is Rinoa?" he asked.

"Rinoa? She's right out there," she answered. "On the balcony."

"Thanks, Selphie."

"Anytime, Squall."

Squall walked outside on the balcony and found Rinoa looking up at the sky. He looked at the beautiful woman. Her dark hair matched her dark eyes. She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and black shorts. She had a blue cape like thing on with angel wings imprinted on it. He slowly walked beside her and stood next to her, but it was like she didn't even notice. "_Is she looking for a shooting star_?" he thought. She turned to face him and smiled, pointing to the sky. He smiled back at her. For the first time he smiled. "_He looks so handsome when he smiles_," she thought.

"Rinoa…." he said.

"I've been waiting for you to awake," she said.

He looked into her brown eyes and wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips touching hers. They parted and smiled at each other. Squall put his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Squall, are you sure you want to be with me? Remember I'm a sorceress," she said.

"I don't car," he answered. "I love you and I want to be with you forever."

First smile, first kiss, and first time those three special words came from his mouth. Squall Leonhart had definitely changed.

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Author's Note: Okay, this was the prologue. The actual story begins in the next chapter!


	2. Warnings

Author's Note: This story is more like a crossover. The enemy in this story is an enemy from a different Final Fantasy game. There will also be two characters from that game in this story. Who are they? You'll find out soon.

Two years later,

Squall Leonhart sat on the beach of Balamb. He always came there to relax and think. He thought about the events that took place exactly two years ago. He remembered how upset his girlfriend, Rinoa, was when she became a sorceress. She thought that Squall would have to her, but instead, he became her knight. A sorceress isn't that great, unless she has a knight. He also thought about the dream world Ellone brought him to. He thought Laguna Loire was a moron, but soon found out he was very brave and that he was Squall's father. Squall wished his mother, Raine, was alive. The people of Winhill blamed Laguna for her death. They said that if he never showed up, Raine would not have married him and died from birth complications. Squall tried not to think too much about it. Though he only saw her in a dream, he loved her very much. He didn't know what to think of Laguna really. He never called him "father" or "dad." Laguna was upset about that, but understood completely. They never spent much time together either. Squall was the headmaster of Balamb Garden and Laguna was the president of Esthar. 

Squall was mad at first when Headmaster Cid Krammer gave his job to Squall, but he knew that Cid was getting older and needed to catch up with his wife, Sorceress Edea. 

Squall let out a soft sigh as he looked at the water. Things were very peaceful. He and the other SeeDs at Balamb hadn't had to fight for two years now. They only times they fought were in the training center. Squall looked at his watch and saw that it was getting late in the afternoon. He got up and brushed the sand off his pants.

Squall walked back to the garden. As he entered the garden, he saw many students walking around. "Lunch break is over, you should all get back to class." Squall said. The students like out an "awww" and walked to their classes. Squall grinned and shook his head. Though he was basically around the same age as they were, he felt much older than them. He thought of the title "headmaster" as a title that belonged to an older person. 

Squall walked into the main part of the garden. He saw the directory in front of him with new students trying to figure out where to go. Behind the directory was the elevator. Squall pressed "2" on the button. "I want to see Rinoa before I go back to the office." He thought. Rinoa was teaching the children students in defense. They couldn't fight to well so she thought defense would be a great class and decided to teach it. The children loved her as a teacher. She was an excellent teacher. 

Squall walked down the hall and quietly entered Rinoa's classroom. 

"If your attacker uses magic attacks, it's best to try to defend yourself or cast "shell" on yourself so that it won't hurt you as much." She explained. 

"Miss Rinoa, Headmaster Squall is here." Said one of the female children pointing at the door. Rinoa looked at Squall and put a magical item on her desk. "Excuse me class, I'll be right back." She said. Her and Squall then walked into the hall.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you had anything planned tonight." He said. 

"Nope, I don't have anything planned," She answered. She put her arms behind he back and swayed back and forth, "Are you asking me out on a date?" She asked with a smile. "Yes." He answered. 

"What time?" She asked. 

"Seven 'o clock sound good?" He asked. 

"Yes!" She answered. 

"See ya then." He said and leaned forward to kiss her. They broke their kiss and continued doing their business. 

That night,

Rinoa got herself ready for her date. She wore her short white dress and matching white shoes. "Probably too formal, but that's okay. He's Squall, he won't care." She thought. She walked to her desk and looked in her mirror to put her makeup on. As she was putting on her lipstick, she suddenly felt a weird sensation. She dropped the lipstick and gasped. She couldn't explain what she just felt. It was some sort of strange vibe. She suddenly had a bad feeling. Like something bad was about to happen. "I'm a sorceress. It was probably something important. I shouldn't ignore this. I need to be careful. I can feel it."

Thirty minutes later Rinoa heard someone knocking on her door. She opened the door and smiled. "Hey, Squall." She greeted. She walked to her bed and grabbed her thin jacket. "Where are we going tonight?" She asked. 

"Beach sound good?" He asked. 

"Yes!" She answered. 

Squall and Rinoa sat side-by-side on the beach. The sun was setting. It was a beautiful sight to see. Rinoa rested her head on Squall's shoulder and sighed. He put his arm around her shoulders and held her close to him. "This is so beautiful, Squall." She said. He looked at her and smiled. "Thank you for coming into my life." He said. 

"I'm glad I did." She replied. He then leaned in to kiss her. When he closed his eyes and touched her lips, he saws images rush through his mind. He saw two men. He could not get a good look at them for the image was blurred. He then heard a voice. 

"I'm looking for the one strong enough…"

Squall broke the kiss and gasped. "You saw it, too?" Rinoa asked. 

"What just happened?" He asked. 

"I don't know. Earlier I felt a rush of emotions. Just now was the first time I heard a voice. When you kissed me, I guess you were able to see it, too." She explained.

"Squall!" Came a voice from behind.

Squall and Rinoa got up and turned around to see Quistis Trepe running towards them. The twenty-year-old instructor looked as if she had terrible news. "What's wrong, Quistis?" Squall asked. 

"Balamb has been attack." She answered. 

"What? We didn't hear anything." He replied. 

"It was a sudden and very quiet attack. No one was killed. It seemed that this unknown force didn't intend to hurt anyone." She explained. 

"Okay, let's go and gather information." He said.

The three ran to Balamb and saw people running around confused. Squall saw a young woman sitting on a bench. Squall walked up to her. "Excuse me." He said. The young woman stood up. "Hello, Mister Squall." Said the young woman. 

"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked. 

"There was different strange looking creatures. We only saw one at a time," She began, "Later a man approached me. He was very creepy. He had long black hair pulled in a messy ponytail. He was wearing a white lab coat. He must have been a scientist or a professor." 

"Did he say anything to you?" Squall asked. 

"Yes," She answered, "I'm looking for the one strong enough to handle his powers."

A/N: Kind of short, but the chapters will get longer. Has anyone figured out who the enemy is yet? If not it will be explained in chapter 2 or 3. I haven't decided yet. I'm busy working on three stories right now.


	3. The Two Men

"Did you see anyone else?" Squall asked.  
  
"Yes, there were two men. One had blonde spiked hair and blue eyes. He was wearing blue and black clothes and he carried a large sword. The other man had blood red eyes and long black hair. He had red scarves around his head and neck. His left hand didn't even look like it belonged to a human." The woman explained.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"His fingers were long and skinny and he had sharp looking claws. The only weapon I saw was a gun." She sighed after she finished explaining everything.  
  
"They could be dangerous." He said looking and Rinoa and Quistis. "Should we put Balamb on high alert?" Quistis asked.  
  
"Probably." He replied.  
  
"And we should get some SeeDs here to guard the city." Rinoa added.  
  
"Good idea." He agreed.  
  
Later that day, Squall sat in his office looking at reports from Balamb's sudden attack. When he asked for some of the SeeDs to go guard Balamb, Zell Dincht immediately took the job. Balamb was his home and he refused to let anyone attack there again. Squall thought a lot about the description of the three men that woman gave. The first man she described sounded a lot like Doctor Odine. He knew that couldn't be him because he knew he always wore what Irvine called "clown suits." And there would be no reason for him to attack Balamb. Who could these men be and why would they attack Balamb? "Maybe relatives of the Galbadian soldiers we defeated? Most of the battles were inevitable. We had no choice but to kill some of those soldiers." He thought.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Rinoa running into his office. "Squall! Dollet is being attacked! They requested back up from Balamb Garden." She explained. Squall thought a moment.  
  
"Another sudden attack. What should I do? Think.."  
  
"Send four groups of five SeeDs there. Including Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, and yourself." He ordered.  
  
"Squall, I'm not trying to argue, but I'm not a SeeD and what about Zell?" She asked.  
  
"Consider this your final SeeD test and Zell is guarding Balamb." He answered.  
  
"What about Seifer?" She asked.  
  
"Yes, that's a good idea. He's worked very hard ever since what happened and deserves to be a SeeD. This will be his last test, too." Squall said.  
  
Rinoa smiled and ran out of his office. Squall ran to his room to get his Lion Heart version of his Gunblade. It was the strongest Gunblade ever. When he ran to the front gate he saw twenty SeeDs including Selphie, Irvine, Rinoa, Seifer, and Quistis.  
  
"Time to save Tollet's butt again, huh?" Seifer asked.  
  
"Our job is to assist Dollet. The same people who attacked Balamb are probably attacking them. Let's divide in teams." Squall said.  
  
Rinoa, Selphie, and Quistis were put on team A along with two other SeeDs. Seifer and Irvine were on team B with three other SeeDs. Team A and B's job was to attack outside the buildings while team C and D went into buildings to clear out any enemies. Squall's job was to find the men the woman in Balamb described.  
  
All the SeeDs loaded into vessels and rode to Dollet. When they got there, they saw many monsters. They didn't look familiar. They were worm like creatures. There were some that were purple, blue, and green. They had arms and legs with huge claws and they had long razor sharp teeth. To Squall's surprise, it didn't look like they were attacking. It looked like they were taking prisoners. They spat green ooze at people causing them to be stunned. The teams then went to their designated areas. Squall, with Gunblade in hand, then searched for the mystery men.  
  
He destroyed enemies while searching. He didn't know why, but he decided to check out the communication tower. Along the way up there, he found a SeeD on the ground unconscious. It was a SeeD from team A. Squall felt for a pulse. He was still alive. He then became worried about Rinoa. Her, Selphie, Quistis, and the other SeeD must have gone up there. He didn't want to leave the man lying there unconscious, but he had to find Rinoa and the others. He ran to the tower. When he got there, he found Rinoa sitting on the ground. He ran to her. "Rinoa, are you alright?" He asked.  
  
"Yes, I got stunned by those monsters. Two men found me and helped me. Quistis and Selphie are in there talking to them." She explained.  
  
"And the other?" He asked.  
  
"He got scared and ran." She answered.  
  
"I knew I should not have brought that rookie here." He sighed. He then helped Rinoa up and they walked into the tower. There they saw the two men Squall was looking for.  
  
"Hello, you must be Squall." Said the man with blonde hair.  
  
"Yes, who are you two?" Squall asked.  
  
"I am Cloud Strife," said the man and then pointed to his friend with black hair, "And the is Vincent Valentine."  
  
A/N: Obviously this is a Final Fantasy 7/8 crossover. I never got to finish FF7, but I will do the best I can with this. The story line is gonna have a lot to do with Jenova cells. I cannot remember the entire story behind them, but hey this is FanFiction, we can make up stuff right? I hope you all like this so far. I know this chapter was short, but I'll do better on the other. 


	4. The wrong place at the wrong time

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I finally got into a FF8 writing mood and I'm started to feel a little better about this story. Again I hope you all enjoy this.  
"Where did you two come from? Why have you been spotted twice during a mysterious attack?" Squall asked.  
  
"We came from a different place. We were transported here while following Professor Hojo." Vincent explained.  
  
"Who is Professor Hojo?" Squall asked.  
  
"He's a crazy man. This will be a long story." Cloud said.  
  
"I'm willing to here it." Squall replied.  
  
"Very well," Cloud began, "Professor Hojo is a very sick and evil man. He used to experiment on people with Jenova cells and turned them into clones of his son. It almost happened to Vincent and I. We both have Jenova cells in us. That is way Vincent looks the way he does. With Jenova cells in you, Sephiorth, Hojo's son, was able to command me to do his evil bidding. I caused so much damage because of it. Later we defeated Sephiorth and got rid of all vials with the Jenova cells. We also defeated Hojo. Little did we know, Hojo turned himself into the tiniest creature and escaped with one last vial of Jenova cells. He's been searching everywhere to find someone worthy of becoming a clone of his son."  
  
"He wants to turn someone into a clone of his son?" Squall asked.  
  
"Yes. We have to find him, kill him, and destroy the vial." Vincent said.  
  
At that moment, a man appeared behind Squall. Squall felt something prick his neck. Vincent pulled out his gun. He had no clear shot at the man. "Hojo!" He yelled in anger.  
  
"I've finally found the one strong enough to carry my son's powers!" He laughed. Then they saw his eyes widen and his mouth drop. He fell to the ground. Rinoa stood behind him with her bloody weapon in hand. "Is he..dead?" She asked, "I saw him attack Squall and I..just shot without thinking."  
  
Cloud walked up to him and felt for a pulse. "Yes.he is dead, but the damage has been done." He said looking at Squall.  
  
Squall looked confused. "What was that? I'm starting to feel sick." He said  
  
"It is already taken affect. It's not happened this fast. He must have made changes." Vincent said.  
  
"Hojo knew he was going to die. This must be an altered version so that he would turn into a clone without Hojo's influence. That is how Sephiorth was able to control me.with his influence." Cloud explained. Squall sat down. His face was already breaking with sweat.  
  
"We need to take him to Doctor Odine. He may know what to do." Quistis said.  
  
Vincent and Cloud helped Squall up and took him to one of the vessels. Quistis was now in charge as far as getting the SeeDs back to Balamb.  
  
Squall was already feeling sick by time they got him back to Balamb and inside the ship called Ragnorok. It was a gift from Esthar for everything Squall and his friends did for them. It was a dragon looking space ship.  
  
Selphie came with them to pilot the ship. Rinoa, Cloud, and Vincent got Squall in the passenger room and sat him in one of the chairs.  
  
"This is not good," Said Vincent, "It is taking effect too fast."  
  
"W-what's going to happen to him?" Rinoa asked very worried.  
  
"I don't know," Said Cloud, "His reaction is a lot different from mine."  
  
It looked like Squall was losing consciousness. Heavy sweat was dripping from his face. Rinoa had to take his coat off because his body temperature rose dramatically. His breathing was getting heavy. Rinoa placed a wet cloth on his forehead.  
  
"We're going to get you there in no time." She said gently kissing him on the lips.  
  
Vincent stood there silently looking out the window. He feared this would happen. He didn't understand how Hojo escaped death. On the outside, Vincent was a man, but on the inside there was a demon. He could control it though, but how well he did not know. It was a different story for Cloud however. He was controlled so many times by Sephiroth. Sephiroth and Hojo was now both dead, but what would happen if they could not cure Squall? Would Squall be able to control Cloud? What if they were forced to kill Squall? Vincent looked over at Rinoa. Her face was pained because of what Squall was going through. He could tell the two were so much in love. Would they have to be torn apart?  
  
Cloud walked to the cockpit and sat on the co-pilot seat next to Selphie. "Where are we going?" He asked.  
  
"Esthar," She answered, "To see Doctor Odine."  
  
"Will he be able to help Squall?"  
  
"I hope."  
  
Cloud nodded and sighed. Suddenly an awful feeling came to him. A few years ago, Sephiroth murdered a woman named Aeris. Cloud was in love with this woman and Sephiroth ruined any chance of them being together. Would Squall murder Rinoa if he went too long without help? Sephiroth did kill Aeris because she was an Ancient, but he still couldn't shake the fact that Rinoa would be in terrible danger. Sephiroth was a cold-blooded murderer who killed anything. He wanted all this to be over so he could go home. He knew his girlfriend, Tifa Lockhart, was probably worried. She had no idea he was in another world. Even though he had a girlfriend, he would always miss Aeris.  
  
Finally they had arrived in Esthar. Selphie landed the Ragnorok on the landing platform at the air station. They waked down a couple streets until they came to the warp pipes. Rinoa, Squall, and Cloud sat on the platform and warped to Doctor Odine's lab. Selphie and Vincent followed behind.  
  
When they arrived, two guards approached them. "State your business" One said.  
  
"Please tell Doctor Odine that Sorceress Rinoa Heartilly needs to speak with him immediately." Rinoa said.  
  
The guards nodded and walked away.  
  
"Sorceress?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Yes," Rinoa replied, "I stated myself as sorceress because that's one of Odine's specialties."  
  
"Studying sorceresses?" Vincent asked.  
  
"Yes," Rinoa answered, "I've been a sorceress for a couple years now."  
  
The two guards came back. "You may see the doctor." They said.  
  
"Thank you." Rinoa said.  
  
Rinoa and Cloud had to help Squall into the building. The moment they entered, Doctor Odine greeted them. Cloud and Vincent were shocked at the fact that he looked a lot like Hojo.  
  
"It haz been a while, Sorceress Rinoa," Odine said.  
  
"Doctor, we don't have much time," Rinoa said, "Something terrible has happened to Squall."  
  
"Bring him into ze room." Odine said.  
  
After they got Squall in a room, Rinoa, Vincent, and Cloud explained what happened.  
  
"Hojo.." Odine said.  
  
"Doctor?" Rinoa said.  
  
"I know Hojo." He replied.  
  
"Now him?" Cloud asked surprised, "How?"  
  
"We are brothers." Odine answered.  
  
"Brothers?!" Cloud gasped.  
  
"Yes," Odine replied, "It waz illegal to study what he waz studying here. I threatened to report him, but he left. I had no idea where he went and I waz happy to see him gone. Thiz waz a long time ago."  
  
"Things get weirder and weirder by the minute." Cloud commented.  
  
"That must be why he came here," Vincent said, "Because he used to live here."  
  
"Just please tell me if there is anything you can do to help Squall!" Rinoa asked.  
  
"I am not sure," Said Odine, "I barely knew anything about what he waz studying. I never even knew he had a son. I will examine him and see what I can do."  
  
Rinoa sat outside the room Squall was being examined in. Every minute that went by was torture. She hoped and prayed there would be something Odine could do to help. If he could remove a sorceress' power, then he could handle this right?  
  
Seconds turned to minutes, minutes then turned to hours. Rinoa looked at the clock and saw that three hours had already gone by. She sighed and closed her eyes. At that moment, she heard the doors slide open and Doctor Odine came out.  
  
"I have examined him and I know how do cure him." He said.  
  
Rinoa got up and looked at him. "How?" She asked.  
  
"It will not be eazy." Odine said.  
  
"Please tell us," Cloud said.  
  
"We will need the Five Crystals." Odine said.  
  
"Five crystals?" Vincent asked.  
  
"Legend goez like thiz," Odine began, "Hidden somewhere in a temple layz Five Crystals. It iz said it can cure anything. People haz searched everywhere, but no one haz found it yet. It iz also said that only someone with great power can find the temple. I believe that someone iz a sorceress. Rinoa, Sorceress Ultimecia liked Edea's powers that iz why she possessed her. When Edea's powers were transferred into you, Ultimecia possessed you. I believe you are the one that can find it."  
  
"Me?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"I have reason to believe that you hold the most powerful sorceress powers." He said.  
  
"I've never used my powers though," She replied, "Only a couple times and that was only under extreme emergencies."  
  
"You will know what to do when you get there." He said.  
  
"Where is this place?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Very far away," Odine answered, "I just happen to have a map of the island where they say the temple is."  
  
"Here's the second question," Vincent said, "What do we about Squall in the meantime? Do you leave him here? He could be very dangerous if he comes."  
  
"Why don't we asked him?" Odine said.  
  
"Rinoa, I think you should ask." Cloud said.  
  
Rinoa nodded and walked into Squall's room. Squall lay in bed and was awake. He also looked a lot better than he did before they got there. She smiled at him and sat by his side.  
  
"How are you feeling?" She asked.  
  
"Like crap," He replied, "But I feel better than I did."  
  
"Odine told us how we can cure you." She said.  
  
"I know," He said, "He told me."  
  
"Would you rather stay here and rest or come with us?" She asked.  
  
"I want to come," He answered, "But Odine told me it would risk your lives. But he also said that you could protect us."  
  
"How?" She asked.  
  
"Well, if I start going crazy, you could knock me out or something." He replied.  
  
"I guess I could do that." She replied with a small laugh.  
  
"But," He said, "If I start getting too dangerous, I want one of you to kill me."  
  
"No!" She said standing up, "I will never kill you!"  
  
He sat up and looked at her. "Rinoa, don't you remember what you told me?" He asked, "'If Ultimecia possesses me, SeeD will have to come after me, and you are the leader, but it's okay if it's you.'"  
  
"That was different." She replied.  
  
"How?" He asked.  
  
She opened her mouth to say something, but knew he was right.  
  
"It would be better if I come anyway," He said, "Since you are the only one who can protect someone from me, then I need to stay close to you."  
  
"I know," She said, "I don't want to be separated from you again." She sat next to him and put her hand on his.  
  
They knew they had no time to waste. They had to make many preparations and find someone to take care of the Garden. The headmaster before Squall, Cid Kramer, decided to step in. Cid's wife, Edea, decided to join Squall and the others. She knew Rinoa would need all the help she could get. After all, two good sorceresses are better than one. Ellone also wanted to be there to help. Squall's father wanted to help too, but he had to take care of Esthar. Everyone who left to go to the Temple of the Five Crystals were, Squall, Rinoa, Edea, Ellone, Cloud, Vincent, Zell, Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, and even Seifer wanted to come. He wasn't doing it really as a favor to Squall, he was just so bored and needed excitement. Or was there another reason?  
  
A/N (again): FF7 fans, please don't flame me too hard if I screwed up **puts up flame shield** heh heh. Anyway, there's a very good reason for Ellone coming..trust me. heehee 


	5. Another vision

A/N: Thanks a whole bunch for the reviews! I'm feeling more and more confident about this story! ^_^  
  
Ellone walked around the weapon shop in Balamb. If she were going to go on a major mission, she would need a weapon. The problem was, she did not know what would be the best weapon. She sighed as she looked at all the weapons. Swords, guns, blaster edges, whips, nunchuks. "I need to choose now," She thought, "I can't make them all wait just because I can't find a weapon."  
  
"Hello, Ellone."  
  
Ellone turned around to see Vincent.  
  
"Oh, Vincent, hi." She said.  
  
They had met when he and the others came back to Balamb with the current situation, but did not really have any time to get to one each other.  
  
"Looking for something?" He asked.  
  
"I'm just trying to find a weapon," she answered, "How about you?"  
  
"I got curious and decided to come here to see what kind of guns they have." He said.  
  
"Are you in to guns?" She asked, "Irvine loves guns."  
  
"He's the one who suggested that I come here." He said.  
  
She nodded and looked at the weapons again.  
  
"Are you having trouble finding something?" He asked.  
  
"Well," she replied, "It's like this, I've never fought in my life. I have no clue what would be the best weapon for a beginner."  
  
"I'm not saying this because it's my weapon of choice, but," he said, "I think a simple gun would be good. A long distant weapon so you won't have to get too close in battle. I wouldn't get a powerful one, though, they can be difficult for a beginner."  
  
"Okay," she said, "Can you help me figure out which is not so powerful?"  
  
He looked at the selection of guns and finally found one that would suit Ellone fine.  
  
"How much?" She asked the worker.  
  
"Five hundred Gil." He said.  
  
Ellone looked inside her purse and sighed. "I left my wallet at the Garden," she said, "Give me a moment, I'll go get it."  
  
"I'll pay for it," Said Vincent. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the money. To Ellone's surprise, his world and hers accepted the same type of money. She looked at him as he handed to money to the worker. "He's so handsome," She thought, "I've never seen anyone more handsome than him." She liked men with dark hair like his. She had never seen a man with red eyes before. She found it attractive too.  
  
After Vincent paid for Ellone's gun, he decided that she needed a brief training session. When they got back to the Garden, Quistis greeted them holding what looked like medical supplies.  
  
"Hello, Vincent and Ellone." She said.  
  
"Hey, Quisty," Ellone replied.  
  
"What are you two up to?" Quistis asked.  
  
"We are going to the training center," said Vincent, "Ellone got a gun today so I'm going to teach her the basics."  
  
"Oh, okay," Quistis replied, "Don't take too long."  
  
"We won't," Ellone said.  
  
Ellone and Vincent walked into the training center, trying to be careful not to run into a strong monster like the T-rexaur. They found a small pack of Grats standing around. They had their backs facing the two so they didn't know they were there. Vincent walked behind Ellone.  
  
"Point the gun at the spot where your enemy will take more damage," He whispered trying to not let the Grats hear. She shot at one of the Grats, but the gun was a little powerful and she was not expecting it to be and ended up missing her target. The Grats turned around and came towards them. Vincent pulled out his gun and shot and killed each one with a single shot.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said, "I wasn't expecting that."  
  
"It's alright," he said, "A lot of people get surprised by the force of their gun. How about we practice on a non-living target? How about one of those dead monsters?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but it creeps me out beating up something that is already dead." She replied.  
  
"Alright," he said, "Let's practice on that tree over there?"  
  
Vincent pulled out a knife and marked a spot on the tree. He got behind her and put his hand over her hand. She was a little startled by his touch and how close he was to too.  
  
"Hold the gun steady," He said.  
  
She felt herself shaking when she felt his warm breath against her cheek.  
  
"You're trembling," He said.  
  
"W-what?" She asked.  
  
"Trembling is not a good thing to do when facing an enemy," He said.  
  
"Control yourself, Ellone." She thought.  
  
He lifted her hand so her gun would be aimed at the target. He removed his hand and stepped back.  
  
"Okay, try." He said.  
  
She nodded and pulled the trigger. It was a perfect aim. A smile came to her face. She had never fought before in her life. With Vincent's help, she felt like she would do just fine now.  
  
"Esthar is the closest place from the temple," said Rinoa pointing at the map Odine gave them.  
  
"It's six thousand miles north-east from Esthar," said Quistis, "With the Ragnorok, it shouldn't take too long."  
  
Everyone loaded their supplies into the Ragnorok. Selphie served as pilot while Zell served as co-pilot. When everything was set to go, they immediately took off.  
  
Irvine was glad there was someone he could talk to about guns without boring the person to death. He and Vincent talked for the longest time about them. Ellone walked by, but Irvine stopped her.  
  
"Hey, Elle, I hear Vincent here got you a gun."  
  
"Yeah, he did," she replied, "I left my wallet at the garden and Vincent offered to buy it for me."  
  
"Ahh, the start of a beautiful romance," Irvine sighed.  
  
She raised an eyebrow and walked away.  
  
"Hey, I was serious," Irvine replied.  
  
Vincent grinned and shook his head.  
  
"What?" Irvine asked.  
  
"Nothing," Vincent answered.  
  
"You know, Ellone is very cute," said Irvine, "Any man would be nuts not to ask her out."  
  
"Then why don't you ask her out?" Vincent asked with a hint of sarcasm.  
  
"Nah, I got my eye on another girl," Irvine grinned.  
  
"Selphie," Vincent replied.  
  
"How did you know?" Irvine asked.  
  
"It's very obvious," Vincent answered.  
  
Quistis sat with Cloud talking about different things. She told him about her life as a SeeD and he told her about his life when he was working with Sephiroth and how he lost his mind and thought he was someone he wasn't.  
  
"It must have been hard for you," she said.  
  
"It was," he replied, "But Tifa helped me out."  
  
"Is Tifa your girlfriend?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," he answered.  
  
"I see," she replied.  
  
Seifer watched as Quistis and Cloud talked. "Cloud," he thought, "What a punk. His hair is freakier than the chicken-wuss'. Why is he talking to Quistis anyway? Why not go bother the cowboy wannabe or the chicken-wuss?"  
  
"Does anyone know where Squall is?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"He's in the hanger," Zell answered, "Said he wanted to be alone."  
  
"Thanks, Zell." She said and walked to the hanger.  
  
Rinoa found Squall leaning up against a wall. He was obviously deep in thought. "Oh no," she thought, "There he goes again."  
  
"Squall, is something wrong?" She asked.  
  
"No, it's nothing." He lied.  
  
"Squall, I thought we agreed that we would tell each other how we felt about certain things." She said with concern.  
  
"I see there's no way out of this," he said, "Alright, I'll tell you. I've been thinking about the cells that are now swimming through my body. What's going to happen to me? Everyone is here to find a cure for me."  
  
"This is all an unfortunate coincident," she replied, "But we're here for you. We're not going to let you turn into that evil Sephiroth person." She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes. When she closed her eyes, she saw an image. She saw a body laying on the floor, a pool of blood, and a bloody Gunblade. She gasped and broke their embrace.  
  
"Rinoa, what's wrong?" He asked.  
  
"Squall, I think someone is going to die."  
  
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger **puts up flame shield** I could have made this chapter longer, but I thought it would be cool to leave it here. Plus I have a minor writer's block so I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. 


	6. The Temple

Author's Note: Sorry it took long to get this chapter up!  
  
Squall put his hands on Rinoa's shoulder and looked her square in the eyes.  
  
"Rinoa, who is going to die?" He asked.  
  
"I don't know," she replied, "All I saw was a body, a pool of blood, and..." She paused.  
  
"And what?" He asked.  
  
"A Gunblade," she answered.  
  
"My Gunblade?" He asked.  
  
"It could have been Seifer's," she suggested even though she knew it was most likely Squall's.  
  
"Seifer doesn't have the cells of a monster running through him," he turned away from her and sighed.  
  
At that moment Quistis walked into the hanger.  
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, "but we are approaching Esthar now. I suggest we stop and refill the fuel tanks."  
  
"That's a good idea," Squall said, "Contact Esthar and get the permission to land."  
  
Quistis nodded and left the room.  
  
Rinoa looked at Squall again and then left.  
  
When Laguna Loire heard that the Ragnarok had landed in Esthar, he decided to go talk to Squall. He didn't want to admit it, but he wanted to talk to him just in case he didn't come back alive.  
  
"Hey Squall!" Selphie called, "Laguna is approaching."  
  
"Let him in," Squall said.  
  
Selphie lowered the ramp and stood up from her chair. "I'm going to greet him!" She said excitingly.  
  
After just a couple moments Squall heard Selphie and Laguna talking as they entered the cockpit.  
  
"Hello, Laguna," Squall said. Even though he was his father, he continued to call him Laguna.  
  
"Hello, Squall," Laguna greeted back, "Can I talk to you in private?"  
  
"Okay," said Squall.  
  
The two walked into the hanger (apparently that's where everyone goes when they want to be alone.)  
  
"Squall, I want to wish you all the luck I have," said Laguna.  
  
"It's going to take a lot of luck apparently." Squall replied.  
  
"Is something else troubling you?" Laguna's fatherly instincts asked.  
  
"No, nothing," Squall lied.  
  
"Squall, we're ready to take off!" Selphie called.  
  
"Well, I don't want to slow you down any further," Laguna said, "Please take care of yourself."  
  
Laguna watched as the Ragnarok took off. He wanted to go with his son to find the Five Crystals, but he had to stay in Esthar. Being president had its ups and downs. This was a definite down.  
  
Five hours later,  
  
"We are approaching the island now," Selphie reported.  
  
When everyone heard Selphie's report, they gathered their equipment.  
  
"We're landing now," said Selphie. She slowly landed the Ragnarok on the small, green island. When she had landed, she lowered the ramp and everyone began pouring out.  
  
The island was very small. It had no trees, no flowers, no nothing except green grass.  
  
"Where's the temple?" Zell asked.  
  
"Rinoa has to use her powers to make it appear," Edea answered.  
  
"How?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"You must concentrate," Edea explained, "You have to want the temple to appear to make it appear."  
  
Rinoa nodded still feeling unsure what exactly she has to do.  
  
"Step back, everyone," Edea instructed.  
  
Rinoa closed her eyes and concentrated. In her mind she saw a huge temple. The outside was a light brown color. It had many windows and a huge door in the front. She could feel a gust of wind blow around her. The ground began trembling. She could here Irvine and Zell say "Whoa," in unison. Then she saw the image again. A body, pool of blood, and bloody Gunblade...she screamed "NO!" and fell to her knees.  
  
"Rinoa! What's wrong?" Selphie said with concern.  
  
Squall knelt down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"You saw that vision again didn't you?" He asked.  
  
She nodded with tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked in front of her and saw the temple. It was just like she saw in her visions. Squall helped her up.  
  
"Are you ready?" He asked.  
  
"Yes," she answered.  
  
They all walked into the temple with their weapons in hand just in case.  
  
The inside was very large. It had stairs leading down to a basement and it had stairs leading to an upper level.  
  
The inside looked very ancient. It had old furniture, candles instead of light bulbs, and other old things. It looked like the last time someone lived there was over one hundred years ago.  
  
"Odine said that there's a curse in this temple," said Squall, "Be careful because they may be monsters here."  
  
"We should split up in teams," Rinoa suggested.  
  
"Right," Squall agreed, "Everyone, pick your partner."  
  
Selphie and Irvine decided to team together (of course.) Edea and Rinoa stayed with Squall just in case. Ellone and Zell teamed up. Quistis and Seifer teamed up (she didn't want to, but he insisted.) Cloud and Vincent teamed up.  
  
"Wait a minute," said Vincent.  
  
"What?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Don't you know what happens if I get wounded too much?" Vincent asked.  
  
"Oh," Cloud replied.  
  
"What?" Squall asked.  
  
"When I get wounded too much," Vincent began, "The demon inside me comes out."  
  
"Did anyone bring any sleeping spells?" Quistis, the magic expert, asked.  
  
Everyone shook their heads.  
  
"C'mon! You came here knowing what could happen, yet you didn't bring a sleep spell?" Seifer asked Vincent.  
  
"I came to Balamb in a hurry while chasing Hojo remember?" Vincent replied.  
  
"Oh pu-lease! There's monsters in the training area that you can get sleep spells from!" Seifer replied.  
  
"Seifer!" Ellone snapped, "He didn't know, okay? So why don't you back off!"  
  
"Okay fine," Seifer said.  
  
"Listen," she began, "I can knock people unconscious by sending their consciousness to the past remember? I'll go with Vincent and Cloud can go with Zell," she then looked at Vincent, "Did you have a painful past?"  
  
"That doesn't matter," he said obviously avoiding her question, "You'll have to do what you have to do."  
  
She nodded still feeling unsure about sending someone she knows nothing about to his past.  
  
"Rinoa, Edea, and I will go down to the basement," Squall explained, "Ellone, Vincent, Quistis, and Seifer will be on the first floor. Zell, Cloud, Irvine, and Selphie will be on the second floor."  
  
They all nodded and split up.  
  
Quistis and Seifer walked down a hall and entered a room on the left. The room was dark. Seifer saw a torch on the wall and used his favorite spell, "Fire," to light the torch.  
  
The room was empty except for a large trunk against a wall on the right.  
  
Quistis bent down to open the trunk. When she did, a small, green, lizard- monkey lunged at her. She cried in surprise as the lizard-monkey began biting her arm.  
  
Seifer quickly pulled out his Gunblade and sliced the lizard-monkey in two.  
  
"Thanks, Seifer," she said.  
  
"Anything for my dear instructor," he smirked.  
  
"Ex-instructor," she mumbled.  
  
Inside the trunk that the lizard-monkey lunged out of was a roll of parchment. She unrolled the parchment and saw that the paper was blank.  
  
"Odd," she whispered.  
  
"What is it?" Seifer asked.  
  
"It's blank," she said, "It must not be ordinary. Why else would there be a creature guarding it."  
  
"It's just a piece of rolled parchment," he said.  
  
"I think maybe only a sorceress can read it," she said.  
  
"Why would you think that?" He asked.  
  
"Maybe because this is a sorceress temple?" She asked with annoyance. She rolled the parchment and tucked it in her belt. "I'll show it to Edea and Rinoa."  
  
Quistis stood up and walked to a wall.  
  
"What are you doing now?" He asked.  
  
"Seifer, are you just going to stand there and ask questions all day?" She asked, "Help me find something in this room that could lead to something."  
  
"Yes, maybe we will find a secret passage only a sorceress can see." He mumbled.  
  
"What?" She asked.  
  
"Nothing." He replied.  
  
"I found something!" Quistis exclaimed.  
  
Seifer looked at her as she pushed what looked like a button. A door slid open in the room.  
  
"Lots of surprises huh?" He commented.  
  
She ignored his comment and walked in the room that was revealed.  
  
"There's nothing here," she informed.  
  
Seifer walked in the room and the other door slid close.  
  
"Crap!" Seifer exclaimed.  
  
Selphie and Irvine walked up a flight of stairs that led to the upper level of the temple. They walked into the first room they saw.  
  
"Wow," said Selphie when she saw the room. The room was filled with old, clay pots.  
  
"I know! I know!" Selphie squealed running up to one of the pots. "We can pull every one and it will lead to a secret passage!"  
  
"Selphie, that's only things you see in old movies," just as Irvine finished his sentence, Selphie pulled a pot and a door slide open. "Whoo- hoo!" She exclaimed punching the air with her fist.  
  
"I forgot, we're dealing with an ancient sorceress' temple," he commented.  
  
"C'mon, Irvy!" She squealed.  
  
"Hey wait a sec," he said.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Now's my chance," he thought. "Why don't we take a break for a while, y'know?" He began, "Squall, Rinoa, Edea, Ellone, Zell, Quistis, Seifer and those Cloud and Vincent guys are all searching right now so what harm will it do for us to stop for a little while?"  
  
"Irvy!" She said bouncing up and down, "We can't do that!"  
  
He grinned as she jumped up and down like a kid. Even though she was nineteen years old, she still acted like a kid. He found this very, very cute.  
  
"Okay, okay," he finally said.  
  
They walked into the secret room. It was no wonder it was secret considering the room was filled with weapons. To their surprise, it was not old weapons, they were newer weapons.  
  
"Whoa!" Irvine exclaimed running towards a wall of guns.  
  
"Irvine, I don't think..." She was too late, Irvine grabbed one of the guns. The floor beneath them vanished and they fell.  
  
Cloud and Zell walked into a room on the upper floor. The room was empty but they walked in just in case there was a secret wall or something like that.  
  
The moment they entered the room, the door was magically closed and looked.  
  
"What the h.." Zell began but was interrupted when several monsters appeared in the room.  
  
"Cockatrices!" Zell exclaimed, "Kill them quickly or they'll turn you into stone."  
  
Cloud had already pulled out his huge sword and began killing the creatures.  
  
The Cockatrice was a bird like creature that could turn you into stone. People could be revived from it with a simple spell, but it was still best to avoid them.  
  
Zell, using his fists, punched one of the creatures to death (literally) but Cloud was much quicker with his sword.  
  
One of the creatures came close to petrifying Cloud, but Zell came to his rescue before it could.  
  
One of them used its strong leg and knocked Cloud against the wall.  
  
The room began to shake. The cockatrices let out a screech and disappeared.  
  
Just like was happened to Irvine and Selphie, the floor disappeared leaving Cloud and Zell to fall below.  
  
"This is so lame!" Seifer said with annoyance.  
  
"What is?" She asked.  
  
"Where are all the enemies?" He asked, "I was expecting getting locked in a room would mean lots of battles!"  
  
"Oh so nothing is fun unless there's fighting huh?" She asked with annoyance.  
  
"You know, you like sexy when you're annoyed," he commented with a sly grin.  
  
"What?!" She exclaimed.  
  
"And when you're mad," he added.  
  
"Seifer Almasy, you are the most arrogant, self-centered, ego-----" she was interrupted when Seifer put his hands on her hips and pressed his lips against hers.  
  
Squall, Edea, and Rinoa walked down a long flight of stairs into the basement. The basement was very dark and dirty. It looked like a perfect place to hold prisoners.  
  
Edea was able to conjure a spell to brighten the room. The room was indeed very dark, damp, and quite creepy.  
  
"Look! There's writing on the wall!" Rinoa said pointing to a very dusty wall.  
  
Squall walked up to it and brushed the dust away with his gloved hand.  
  
"What does it say?" He asked, "I can't read it."  
  
"I can," said Edea.  
  
"M-me too," Rinoa replied.  
  
Ellone and Vincent approached a door and stopped.  
  
"Remember what I taught you about your gun?" He asked.  
  
She nodded and swallowed a dry lump in her throat.  
  
"Okay," he said and opened the door.  
  
The room was empty except for a pedestal on the other end other the room with an orange crystal on top.  
  
"Vincent! It's here!" Ellone exclaimed.  
  
Vincent walked up to the crystal and put his hand on it. It began glowing brightly and disappeared.  
  
"W-where did it go?!" Ellone gasped.  
  
"Did you think it would be THAT simple?" A female's voice asked from behind.  
  
Ellone and Vincent turned around and saw a woman. The woman had orange colored skin and eyes. Instead of hair, she had a long stream of fire. She was wearing a flaming bikini looking outfit.  
  
"Who are you?" Ellone asked.  
  
"I am Pyra, Queen of Fire!" she said.  
  
(A/N: I'm about to do a back and forth thing. Dialogue that looks like this; ("blah...blah..blah") That's Edea repeating what's written on the wall. If it looks like this; "blah...blah..blah" that Pyra talking.)  
  
("In order to obtain the Five Crystals..")  
  
"...you must defeat the Five Guardians of the Five Crystals."  
  
("These guardians are opposite to what you are used to...")  
  
"...so do not underestimate us."  
  
"Opposite to what we are used to?" Ellone asked.  
  
"Defeat me to get the crystal!" Pyra said.  
  
Ellone nervously pulled out her gun and aimed it at Pyra.  
  
"Wait, I know what she means." Vincent said.  
  
Pyra threw a fireball at Ellone, but she quickly ducked.  
  
"Stand back," Vincent instructed. He put his hands together and disappeared.  
  
Ellone gasped when she saw him disappear. She hoped and prayed whatever he had in mind would work.  
  
Suddenly a woman appeared. She looked a lot like Pyra, but an icy version.  
  
"Shiva?!" Pyra gasped.  
  
"Diamond Dust!" Shiva exclaimed stretching her hand forward.  
  
Pyra let out a scream and was enclosed in a block of ice.  
  
Shiva disappeared and Vincent reappeared.  
  
Pyra busted out of the ice and sat down in exhaustion.  
  
"I have been defeated," she sighed, "I did not know you knew Shiva."  
  
"So, you also use Guardian Forces?" Ellone asked Vincent.  
  
"Guardian Forces?" Vincent asked, "We call them Summon Materia."  
  
"Have you lost any of your memory?" She asked.  
  
"No, why would we?" He asked.  
  
"Hmmm." Ellone thought a moment, "Guardian Forces, GF for short, gives us power, but they make a home in our brain. That part of the brain is where are memory is stored."  
  
"Sounds awful if you want to keep your memory," Vincent commented.  
  
"There are different summons," Pyra added, "Guardian Forces are best for those who fight in battle and don't care for memories. Summon Materia is good for those who wish to fight and keep their memory."  
  
"I see," Vincent said.  
  
"Now," Pyra said standing up, "You have earned the crystal." She pointed her finger at Ellone.  
  
Ellone was startled and first, but calmed down. Then a chain appeared around her neck with the orange crystal attached.  
  
"I sense you have no magic with you," Pyra said to Ellone.  
  
"No, I don't know how to use it," Ellone said.  
  
"Let me be you Eidolon." Pyra said.  
  
"What?" Ellone asked, "I don't want to lose my memory."  
  
"You won't," Pyra answered, "Eidolons do not make a home in people's brains. Don't worry. Just call upon me, and I will surely come, but beware, there are guardians that I cannot defeat. That is why I will inform the guardians that when they are defeated that they must join you."  
  
"Thank you, Pyra," Ellone said.  
  
Pyra nodded and disappeared.  
  
A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter. Seifer did the famous "shut up and kiss me" guy thing. Will Quistis slap him and tell him to go to hell or kiss him back? 


	7. Deathguise, Banshee, and new love

Quistis pushed Seifer away and glared at him.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?!" She asked.  
  
"Come on, tell me you didn't enjoy that," he replied with a cocky grin.  
  
"Of course I did not enjoy that!" She replied.  
  
"Are you sure?" He asked coming close to her again.  
  
"Y-yes," she stammered.  
  
He put his hand on her cheek.  
  
"For all those years you were in love with Squall," he said, "But you never looked at what was in front of you."  
  
"If you hadn't acted so immature, maybe I would have," she replied avoiding his gaze.  
  
"I've changed, Quistis," he said, "I know I don't act like it most of the time, but I have. I've been in love with you for a long time."  
  
"What?" She asked.  
  
"That's where some of my jealousy for Squall came from," he said, "I was jealous because you were interested in him and not me."  
  
This was all new for her. She had never ever seen this side of Seifer. Who knew? Seifer a sensitive guy? Was she in love with him too? Did she enjoy that kiss? She did not know. She didn't know what to feel at that moment.  
  
Next thing she knew, she was meeting his gaze again. He put both hands on her cheeks and kissed her softly.  
  
Ellone and Vincent continued their search. They had found one crystal. Now all they needed was four more. Ellone wanted to run down to the basement and tell Squall, but she knew it would waste time.  
  
"I hope Doctor Odine can eliminate every single Jenova cell," Vincent said as they searched a room.  
  
"What could happen?" Ellone asked.  
  
"Squall could duplicate the cells over and over again," he answered.  
  
"I see," she replied.  
  
"Ellone, if this mission fails, we may have to kill him," he said looking at her.  
  
She frowned and nodded. "I know,"  
  
Squall, Rinoa, and Edea searched through the basement for hours and still didn't find anything. They were about to give up, until they heard a rumbling sound.  
  
"What was that?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Foolish mortals!" A deep thundering voice bellowed, "You may have defeated Pyra, but you shall never defeat me!"  
  
Out of the shadows a huge creature walked out. It looked more like a machine. It had robotic red eyes, long, sharp claws. It looked like it was eight feet tall.  
  
"Opposite to what we are used to," Squall murmured.  
  
"What?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"This is Alexander's opposite," he said.  
  
"Did anyone junction Alexander?" Edea asked.  
  
"Yeah, Zell did," he answered.  
  
"I was afraid of that," Rinoa commented.  
  
"We'll just have to do the best we can," Edea said.  
  
"Fools! You dare challenge Deathguise?!" Alexander's opposite laughed.  
  
Squall pulled at her Gunblade and began charging it for his Lion Heart attack.  
  
When to attack was finally charged, Squall ran forward, but was flung against a wall by Deathguise's claw like arm.  
  
Edea used her sorceress powers, but it did little damage.  
  
Squall quickly recovered and jumped in Deathguise's back.  
  
Deathguise swung around trying to get Squall off.  
  
Squall hacked away at Deathguise with his Gunblade, but that too did little damage. Deathguise's armored body was extremely strong.  
  
Rinoa waved her hand and white beads of light surrounded Deathguise. The spell was called "Holy." If Deathguise was Alexander's opposite, then he would be weak against "Holy."  
  
"Rinoa, let's use that spell together and use our powers to make is stronger." Edea suggested.  
  
Rinoa nodded and put her hands against Edea's. Their bodies were surrounded in a white aura.  
  
When Squall saw what they were doing, he jumped down off Deathguise and ran behind Rinoa and Edea.  
  
Deathguise brought down its claw arms, but it was too late. Rinoa and Edea's spell trapped him in a white aura.  
  
Deathguise fell to the floor and sighed.  
  
"I admit defeat," he said.  
  
Rinoa and Edea smiled at their victory.  
  
"Here's the crystal," Deathguise said waving his hand. He chose Rinoa to carry the crystal.  
  
Rinoa looked at the black crystal that hung from a chain around her neck.  
  
"Now I must bid you farewell," Deathguise said, "Pyra instructed us to become Ellone Loire's Eidolon."  
  
"Eidolon?" Squall asked, but did not get an answer for Deathguise vanished.  
  
"Eidolon is another word for a summon," Edea answered.  
  
"I see," he replied.  
  
"Whoa," Ellone gasped.  
  
"What's wrong?" Vincent asked with concern.  
  
"I..just had a strange feeling," she said.  
  
"Ellone," Pyra said and appeared before Ellone, "Deathguise the Eidolon has just joined you. He is Alexander's opposite."  
  
"Okay," Ellone said.  
  
"Rinoa Heartilly has the second crystal," Pyra added and disappeared.  
  
Cloud and Zell fell from the room above, and fell on top several crates in the room bellow.  
  
Cloud moaned and rubbed his head. He suddenly felt something sting his arm. He looked at his arm and saw grains of salt on an open wound.  
  
The crates he fell on were filled with salt.  
  
He looked beside him and saw an unconscious Selphie and Irvine.  
  
Zell shot up and gasped.  
  
"The heck happened?!" He exclaimed.  
  
Selphie began waking up. She moaned and grabbed her head with her hand.  
  
"Selphie, are you alright?!" Zell asked.  
  
"I think so," she said. She stood up and brushed the salt off her. "Tee- hee! All better!"  
  
Irvine then woke up looking very confused is to way he was lying in a crate full of salt.  
  
"Like, what is with all the salt?" He asked, "And how did you two get down here?"  
  
"Beats me," Zell answered.  
  
"You know," Selphie said poking her finger in the air, "they say that salt was considered treasure way back when. I bet that if this is some sort of secret treasure room, then the crystal must be down here!" She finished her sentence jumping up and down.  
  
"She's probably right," Cloud agreed.  
  
"I know!" Zell said punching his fist into his hand, "We can bust up all these crates until we find it!"  
  
They all agreed with Zell's plan and one-by-one they began opening all the crates.  
  
"Ew, salt is getting all in my finger nails!" Selphie sighed.  
  
Cloud opened one crate and was suddenly flung backwards.  
  
"How dare you intrude on this temple!" A female's voice screeched.  
  
Where the crate was that Cloud was looking in was now standing a woman. She was wearing a short dress made of vines. She had dark brown eyes and bushy brown hair.  
  
"I am Banshee, Siren's Opposite," she said.  
  
"Siren's Opposite?" Zell asked.  
  
Banshee opened her mouth and an eye splitting screech came out.  
  
Zell, Irvine, Selphie, and Cloud covered their ears and fell to their knees.  
  
As Ellone and Vincent searched one of the rooms, Vincent came across a small door in the wall.  
  
"Ellone, look at this," he said gesturing towards the door.  
  
"Do you think on of the crystals is being kept in the room?" She asked.  
  
"Let's see," he said opening the door.  
  
Vincent then reached into the small alcove only to find himself getting cut by something sharp. He retracted his hand. Blood was dripping from it.  
  
"Vincent, are you okay?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah," he said, "What was that?"  
  
They then heard a clattering noise. It sounded like giant insects running on a stone floor.  
  
The noise got louder and louder until suddenly several creatures began pouring out.  
  
Ellone let out a cry of surprise and fell backwards.  
  
"What are these things?!" Vincent asked as he began shooting them.  
  
"I know these things," Ellone said standing up, "They're called Grand Mantis."  
  
"There's too many," he said, "It took ten bullets to kill one!"  
  
"What should we do?" Ellone asked as she shot one though it did very little damage.  
  
"Summon Pyra," he suggested.  
  
Just then a Grand Mantis took its razor sharp claws and clamped down on Ellone's arm.  
  
Ellone cried in pain.  
  
Vincent quickly kicked the creature off her before it could take her arm off.  
  
"Ellone, now." He said.  
  
As if she suddenly knew exactly what to do, she put her wrists together and pressed her middle fingers against her thumbs. She closed her eyes, put her hands together, and stepped back.  
  
Vincent quickly ran out of the way when he saw Ellone disappear.  
  
A bright red flame appeared in the room. The flame exploded revealing Pyra.  
  
Pyra gave a smile of pleasure at her new victims. She held her hands out and engulfed every Grand Mantis in flames.  
  
When Pyra saw that her job was done, she disappeared.  
  
When Ellone reappeared, she collapsed on the floor.  
  
Vincent ran to her side and saw that she was unconscious.  
  
Squall, Rinoa, and Edea decided to go back to the upper levels of the temple. They had searched every little part of the basement and found nothing else.  
  
When Rinoa and Edea began climbing the stairs back up, Squall stopped.  
  
"Squall?" Rinoa asked.  
  
Squall had his hands on his head and he fell to his knees.  
  
"Squall!" Rinoa gasped running to his side.  
  
"N-no," he mumbled.  
  
"What?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"W-we m-must...le-leave this....temple," he stammered.  
  
"Squall, I don't understand," Edea said.  
  
"We cannot find....the crystals," he continued, "They must...stay..hidden. S-Sephiroth would not..w-want them to be found."  
  
"Oh no," Rinoa sighed.  
  
"Rinoa, put your hand on his shoulder," Edea said, "You must want him to fall unconscious."  
  
Rinoa nodded and placed her hand on Squall's shoulder. She gently squeezed it and he fell unconscious.  
  
"We should be safe down here," Edea said, "We'll stay here until he wakes."  
  
Ellone woke up with her head hurting. She looked at her wounded arm and saw it was bandaged.  
  
"You had me worried for a moment there," said Vincent.  
  
"What happened?" She asked.  
  
"After you summoned Pyra, you fell unconscious," he answered.  
  
"Oh," she replied.  
  
"You should get some more rest," he suggested, "We will take a break here for a few more hours,"  
  
"Alright," she said and lay back down.  
  
She was so glad she was teamed up with Vincent. She found him so brave, nice, charming, and very handsome.  
  
"Am I falling for him?" she thought, "He's from a different world remember? He's just going to leave the moment this is all over. I wish he didn't have to leave. I enjoy being around him. Am I really falling in love for the first time?"  
  
A/N: Sorry that it was short, but I didn't want to make this chapter long and boring. 


	8. Vincent and Ellone's troubles

A/N: In response to The Author: I would love to do italics, but the word program I use won't let me. I think my sister is going to download a program that will, but I dunno.  
  
"We should stop," Quistis said ending hers and Seifer's long kiss, "We still have to find those crystals."  
  
"Okay," he said with a hint of disappointment.  
  
They began searching the room trying to find a way out.  
  
Quistis could tell he was disappointed when she broke off their kiss. They had known each other since childhood, but it still felt awkward kissing her ex-student. They were the same age, but there was still awkwardness.  
  
"Hey, Quistis, I think I found something," Seifer said after a few minutes of searching.  
  
Quistis walked over to Seifer as he pointed to a bump in the wall. She then pushed it in and another door slid open.  
  
"I really hope it leads back into the main area," Quistis sighed.  
  
They walked into the new open room. It was a long hallway that curved around a corner to the right.  
  
They went around the corner only to find a Triface monster guarding a set of stairs.  
  
"Here's you battle, Seifer," Quistis said as she pulled out her whip.  
  
The Triface jumped off the stairs and on top Quistis. Before she could react, it bit its poisonous teeth into her arm.  
  
Quistis' eyes began glowing blue and lasers shot out knocking the Triface backwards. She had used her Blue Magic skill called "Laser Eyes."  
  
One of the Triface's fake heads was burnt off because of Quistis' spell.  
  
Seifer then jumped in and cut off its other fake head with his Gunblade.  
  
Quistis swung her whip at the monster's neck and it wrapped around. Seifer quickly took the perfect chance and ran his Gunblade through the monster.  
  
Quistis put away her whip and looked at her arm. Her arm was covered in blood and had green ooze coming from the bite mark.  
  
"Poison," she whispered.  
  
Seifer reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like medicine.  
  
"Hurry, take this Antidote," he said.  
  
She did as he said and took the medicine. She instantly began feeling better. She then reached into a pouch that was hooked up to her belt and pulled out bandages. Seifer helped her as she bandaged her wounded arm.  
  
"This should help take away the pain," he said. "Draw....Cure!" A blue light surrounded Quistis' arm and the pain went away.  
  
"Thanks, Seifer," she said.  
  
Edea suggested that Rinoa get some sleep while Squall was unconscious. The Jenova cells that were injected into Squall were already taking affect. This worried Edea very much. She was very scared for Squall. She knew they had to find the crystals quickly. Ellone apparently had one and Rinoa had one now there was just three more to go. Her thoughts were interrupted when Squall began to awake.  
  
Ellone tossed and turned in her sleep. Cold sweat dripped from her forehead and she kept repeating the words; "No! Stay back! Leave them alone! NO!"  
  
Vincent heard her desperate pleads and knew instantly that she was having a nightmare. He knelt beside her and gently shook her. Ellone shot up and screamed "NO!" She panted for breath and looked at Vincent.  
  
"Vincent..." she whispered.  
  
"Were you having a nightmare?" He asked.  
  
She nodded and sighed.  
  
He knew what it was like to have horrible nightmares. Several years ago he felt that he was the cause of the women he loved's death. He also felt that he committed terrible sins and felt that he should be punished for it. He punished himself by sleeping in a coffin all day and night in Nibelheim Mansion. (A/N: did I get that right?) Every day his dreams were filled with nightmares. It was unbearable, but he felt that after all the sins he committed, he deserved it. He then came to realize after joining Cloud Strife and his friends that he was not the cause of so much pain and suffering. It was Hojo's fault.  
  
"I've had this nightmare before," Ellone said, "My parents were killed by Esthar soldiers. I can still hear them screaming. The soldiers wanted to kidnap me and make me Sorceress Adel's successor, but my parents resisted and were killed."  
  
"I'm sorry, Ellone," he said sympathetically.  
  
"I was so scared," she said as tears filled her eyes.  
  
He saw how upset she was and felt very sorry for her. He didn't like seeing her so upset. He saw tears stream down her cheeks and gently brushed them away.  
  
"I won't let anything happen to you while I'm around," he said gently.  
  
"'While' you're around?" She asked.  
  
"Yes," he answered, "I'm going back to my world when all this is over."  
  
She looked into his eyes and whispered, "I wish you didn't have to go."  
  
He met her gaze and suddenly felt something. "I'm...falling in..love with her?" He thought.  
  
He then felt himself getting closer to her. He couldn't help it. He was drawn to her. He slowly closed his eyes as they got closer.  
  
Ellone could feel Vincent's hair brush against her face as he brought his face closer to hers. Only seconds after she closed her eyes, she felt his lips touching hers. Her first kiss. It felt so wonderful. She felt like she was in a dream and hoped it would never end.  
  
Vincent broke the kiss and looked into Ellone's eyes again. He put his normal hand on the back of her neck and pulled her into a deeper, passionate kiss.  
  
"How do we defeat her?!" Selphie yelled over Banshee's screeching.  
  
"Silence!" Cloud said holding his hand out. Banshee's screeching stopped for only a few seconds, but then the spell wore off.  
  
Irvine stood up, took his hands off his ears, and disappeared.  
  
A woman appeared in the room. She was holding a harp and had a set of wings on her head. She stroked the strings of her harp and a very, very soft melody came from it.  
  
Banshee's mouth was still open, but no sound came from it.  
  
Quistis and Seifer walked up the flight of stairs until they reached a hallway. There was a door at the end of the hallway. They opened the door and it lead into another hallway, but this hallway had a line of doors on each side of the wall. They decided to go into the first room on the left.  
  
"Whoa!" Seifer said when he walked into the room.  
  
"What is it?" Quistis asked looking over his shoulder.  
  
"The room has no floor," he said.  
  
"Aww what's the matter? Can't scream anymore?!" A voice mocked from bellow. It sounded like Zell.  
  
Seifer carefully leaned forward to see Zell, Selphie, Irvine, and Cloud in the room bellow.  
  
"Zell!" Seifer shouted.  
  
"Hey, Seifer! Hey, Quistis!" Zell called backed.  
  
"What's going on?" Quistis asked.  
  
"We're in the middle of fighting a Crystal Guardian," Zell answered, "Hey do us a favor and take care of the upper floor until we beat her."  
  
"Alright," Seifer agreed.  
  
"Squall?" Edea asked.  
  
"What happened?" Squall asked.  
  
"You started talking funny," she answered, "You said something about Sephiroth not wanting the crystals to be found."  
  
"I didn't hurt her did I?" he asked noticing an unconscious Rinoa next to him.  
  
"No, she's just resting," she answered, "But we should get going now."  
  
He nodded in agreement and gently woke Rinoa.  
  
"Squall, how are you feeling?" She asked.  
  
"Fine now that I'm looking at you," he answered with a smile. She blushed slightly and gave him a quick kiss.  
  
After they were ready to go, they decided to see how Ellone, Vincent, Quistis, and Seifer were doing on the first floor.  
  
They walked up the dusty stairs back up to the first level. They walked into the first few rooms only to find them empty. It wasn't until they got the sixth room that they found Ellone and Vincent.  
  
The three of them were surprised when they saw Ellone asleep in Vincent's arms.  
  
When Vincent saw Squall, Edea, and Rinoa, he gently laid Ellone down and quietly walked up to them.  
  
"I see you've found a crystal," he said looking at the crystal around Rinoa neck.  
  
"Yeah," Squall answered.  
  
"So, you and Ellone," Rinoa said with a smile.  
  
"Don't tell Irvine," Vincent said, "If he finds out, he'll think we did something more than kiss."  
  
"You were kissing Ellone?" Edea asked.  
  
Rinoa gave a school girl giggle.  
  
"Promise you won't tell him," Vincent repeated, "I really don't want to hear his talks about having a girlfriend."  
  
Rinoa continued to giggle and nodded her head. "We understand perfectly," she said.  
  
"Well, we need to go check on the others," Squall said, "Give her a couple more hours to sleep. You should get some rest too."  
  
Vincent nodded and the three left.  
  
Meanwhile,  
  
"Alright! Alright! I'm defeated!" Banshee cried after a long battle she could never win.  
  
"Ha! 'Bout time you admitted it!" Zell laughed.  
  
"Take the crystal," Banshee moaned.  
  
Selphie squealed when Banshee chose her to hold the crystal. The color of this crystal was orange.  
  
"I must join with my new master now," Banshee said.  
  
"New master?" Irvine asked.  
  
"Yes, Ellone Loire," Banshee said, "I am her new Eidolon."  
  
"Whoa!" Zell exclaimed.  
  
Banshee nodded and left.  
  
"Well, I guess we should get outta here," Zell said.  
  
The four walked out of the room and were surprised when they saw Squall, Rinoa, and Edea.  
  
"What are you four doing down here?" Squall asked.  
  
Zell explained everything that happened with the rooms and the vanishing floors, Banshee, the crystal, and Ellone's new Eidolon.  
  
"So like what is a Eidolon anyway?" Irvine asked.  
  
"Eidolon is another name for a summon," Edea answered, "We defeated one name Deathguise and apparently Ellone and Vincent defeated one because they have one of the crystals."  
  
"So that means we've found three so far?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Yes, unless Quistis and Seifer has found one." Squall answered.  
  
"That reminds me," said Selphie, "Should we tell Quistis and Seifer to come back down here?"  
  
"No," Squall answered, "Let them take care of the upper floor. Why don't you two," he looked at Irvine and Selphie, "Go back upstairs. Rinoa, Edea, Zell, Cloud, and I will stay down here."  
  
"Okay," Selphie said doing her typical punch in the air.  
  
"Gotcha!" Irvine said tipping his cowboy hat. The two ran down the hall and back upstairs.  
  
Ellone awoke when she felt something happen. It felt the same as when Deathguise became her Eidolon. Did she get a new Eidolon?  
  
"Hey!" A woman's voice called.  
  
Ellone stood up and turned around to see Banshee.  
  
"I'm your new Eidolon," Banshee said, "Call me Banshee."  
  
"It's nice to meet you Banshee," Ellone said.  
  
"Do me a favor will ya," Banshee said, "Make sure you summon either me or Deathguise next time you're in danger. Pyra has a huge ego and it doesn't help when she's summoned twice in a row."  
  
Ellone laughed. "Okay," she agreed.  
  
"Good," Banshee said and disappeared.  
  
"Banshee huh?" Vincent asked.  
  
Ellone turned around again to see Vincent standing in a corner.  
  
"Sounds like Siren's opposite," he said.  
  
"Yeah by the sound of her name," she agreed.  
  
They stood there for a few moments in silence. They didn't really know what to say to each other. Were they officially a couple? Or was that just a comfort kiss Vincent gave her? Either way they didn't know what to feel. Ellone knew he was going to leave after Squall was cured and he knew he was going to leave. Could they handle not seeing each other ever again?  
  
"I guess we should look for the other two crystals," he said breaking the awkward silence.  
  
"Yeah," she said.  
  
They left the quiet room they were resting in and went into the room across from that. Little did they know, that was a bad choice.  
  
Vincent and Ellone walked into a large, empty room. Or what seemed to be empty. The moment they had entered the room, the door shut behind them and was magically locked. Then a huge monster appeared in the room. It was hard for either of them to explain what it was.  
  
The monster was large from the waist down. It's upper body looked almost human, but at the same time it didn't. It was holding two large swords.  
  
(A/N: Sorry I REALLY suck at descriptions. I'm just gonna tell ya what the monster is. It's an Ultima Weapon.)  
  
"What is this thing?!" Vincent asked from shock.  
  
"I-I don't know," Ellone said with fear in her voice.  
  
The Ultima Weapon pointed its sword at Vincent. A large beam of golden light shot from it hitting Vincent in the chest.  
  
"Vincent!" Ellone gasped.  
  
She looked back at the Ultima Weapon knowing that it would be a bad idea to turn her back on it. She was about to summon Deathguise until she heard growling coming from behind. She turned around and saw something that horrified her. Vincent was replaced by a demon looking beast. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened when she saw the demon within Vincent giving her a bloodthirsty look. 


	9. Things get worse

Ellone's eyes were filled with horror when she looked at Vincent's demon form. He looked like he did not even know who she was.  
  
"V-Vincent..." She whispered.  
  
Before she could do anything, Vincent lunged at Ellone knocking her to the floor. She screamed in terror and struggled to keep Vincent from biting her head off. She took a quick glance behind her and saw the Ultima Weapon just standing there as if he were just going to let Vincent kill her. She took her eyes off Ultima Weapon and looked at Vincent's demon like face. She closed her eyes and felt Vincent's body go limp. She opened her eyes to see him unconscious.  
  
Ellone pushed Vincent off her and stood up. She cried in pain when she felt Ultima Weapon use another spell on her. She looked at Ultima Weapon and quickly summoned Deathguise.  
  
Deathguise appeared in the room. His robotic red eyes began glowing and he charged at Ultima Weapon. He slashed his claw like arms at Ultima Weapon. It did some damage, but not enough.  
  
Ellone knew this would not be an easy battle at all. Deathguise did little damage, Vincent was unconscious, and she had to wait a few minutes before she could summon an Eidolon again.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Selphie and Irvine entered their next room. In the middle of this room sat a creature. The creature was about Selphie's height. It looked like an over grown Imp.  
  
"What is that?" Irvine asked.  
  
The creature disappeared.  
  
"Where did it go?" Selphie asked.  
  
There was a clicking noise behind them. Selphie and Irvine twirled around to see the creature standing behind them and magically locking the door.  
  
Irvine pulled out his gun and shot at the creature, but the creature disappeared again.  
  
"It's some kind of teleporter." Selphie said.  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence for a long time. Irvine held his gun in hand, Selphie had her nunchuks ready, and the creature was no where in sight.  
  
Finally after several minutes the teleporter creature appeared in the room. Irvine shot at it, but it kept disappearing and reappearing here and there.  
  
"This thing is really ticking me off!" Selphie said with annoyance.  
  
The creature ran forward and threw a wall. Selphie and Irvine did not know whether or not it teleported behind the wall or if you could go right through it.  
  
Irvine and Selphie thought it was worth a try and ran towards the wall.  
  
The two stumbled when they went right through the wall. They quickly got to their feet and saw the creature sitting on a throne in the room. The creature smirked at them and appeared behind them.  
  
"Look I am sick of chasing you down okay?" Irvine said annoyed, "Why not let us out of this room and we'll leave you alone."  
  
The creature smiled and shook its head.  
  
Selphie lunged at the creature and wrapped her arms around it. The creature squealed and disappeared...with Selphie.  
  
"Selphie!" Irvine gasped.  
  
Selphie found herself being teleported back outside in the hall. She looked at the creature and laughed. "Ha! Thanks for the ride!" The creature sneered at her and disappeared again.  
  
Selphie wasted no more time and tried to open the door to let Irvine out. To her surprise, it could be easily opened from the outside. She knew it would be a bad idea to walk in the room, so she held the door open and called Irvine's name.  
  
"Selphie? How did you get the door open?" Irvine asked when he walked back through the hollow wall.  
  
"That thing teleported me back into the hall," she said. "Apparently the door can be opened from the outside and not the inside."  
  
"Oh," he simply said.  
  
"Come on, there's obviously nothing in this room." She said.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
"What happened?" Vincent repeated in his mind over and over again. "Where am I?"  
  
"Take Ellone to Raine's house now!" A voice shouted.  
  
"Rain? Who is Raine?" Vincent asked himself.  
  
Vincent felt like he was in some sort of dream. He heard noises and voices, but could not see anything.  
  
"Hurry! The Esthar soldiers are coming!"  
  
"By order of Sorceress Adel, ruler of Esthar, we command you hand any daughter you have over to us!"  
  
"We don't have a daughter!"  
  
"How do we know you are not lying? Search the house!"  
  
Finally the images became clearer. Vincent saw about five soldiers searching through a small house. He also saw a nervous looking man.  
  
"Sir!" one of the soldiers reported. "We have found a room with children's toys. There is and was obviously a child living here."  
  
The commander grabbed the man by his shirt. "Tell me where your child is!"  
  
At that moment a woman walked through the door holding what looked like grocery bags. The woman looked a lot like Ellone.  
  
"Where is your child?!" The commander demanded again.  
  
"We do not have a child!" The woman said.  
  
"Liars!" the commander spat. "There are children's toys in one of the room."  
  
The man and woman said nothing and just looked at the commander.  
  
"Kill them both for resisting an order from Sorceress Adel!" The commander ordered.  
  
"No!" Vincent shouted though there was nothing he could do.  
  
Vincent then saw another image. This time the soldiers were searching a pub. The pub was small and had an upstairs room. They saw that there was nothing there and left.  
  
There was a woman sitting at a table as the soldiers left. She acted completely casual. Little did the soldiers know, the woman was hiding a baby girl in a secret room...  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Ellone was already exhausted from dodging the Ultima Weapon's constant attacks. She had already gained enough energy to summon another Eidolon. This time she summoned Pyra.  
  
Pyra appeared in the room, but she did not send a blanket of fire on Ultima Weapon, instead she looked gravely at Ellone.  
  
"Ellone, we cannot defeat him," she said. "Only one Eidolon can."  
  
"Who?" Ellone asked.  
  
"Knight." Pyra answered.  
  
"What am I to do?!" Ellone asked with fear, "I can't escape this room. Vincent and I will be killed!"  
  
"Two of your friends has just now entered the room with Knight," Pyra explained. "If they can defeated him, then you must quickly summon him and defeat the Ultima Weapon."  
  
"Is this a Guardian?" Ellone asked.  
  
"No," Pyra answered. "You coming into this room was terribly unfortunate."  
  
~*~*~*  
  
The two friends Pyra mentioned were Quistis and Seifer. The two had walked into the room that apparently contained Knight. But to Quistis and Seifer, the room was merely an armory room.  
  
Quistis walked past the rows of armor as she searched the room. The room had a bunch of shields, swords, mallets, helmets, chain mail, and suits of armor.  
  
"Interesting room," Seifer commented as he looked behind every shield.  
  
"I'll check the suits of armor," Quistis said. She looked inside every suit until she noticed something odd about one particular suit. All the suits had no helmets except for one. All the helmets were piled in a corner except this one. She slowly walked up to the suit. She cautiously lifted the visor on the helmet, but when she did, the suit jerked alive and pushed her down.  
  
The suit of armor stretched out his hand to the rack that held the swords and made a sword come to him. He did the same with the shields.  
  
"I am Knight," it said. "One of the Five Guardians. I have defeated many dragons and have defeated any human who dare get in my way."  
  
"Dragons, eh?" Said Seifer.  
  
"Seifer, do you have Bahamut?" Quistis asked.  
  
"Yeah, but I don't wanna beat it that fast." He replied.  
  
"Seifer!" She replied sternly.  
  
"Alright, alright!" He said and summoned Bahamut.  
  
Bahamut entered the room and looked at Knight.  
  
"Bahamut!" Knight spat.  
  
Bahamut was the only dragon that Knight could never defeat so he held an incredible grudge against him. He decided to ignore Quistis and Seifer and go after Bahamut instead.  
  
Bahamut let a breath of fire out of Knight, but he held his shield in front of him and blocked Bahamut's attack. Knight countered the attack and slashed Bahamut's wing. The damage was not severe enough to bring Bahamut down.  
  
Bahamut grew angry and flapped his wings as hard as he possibly could. Knight found himself getting pushed backwards by the gust of wind the dragon's wings were producing.  
  
Knight charged energy into his sword. The sword began glowing bright. When it was fully charged, he threw his sword at Bahamut on it struck his left wing. Bahamut screeched in pain and fell to the floor.  
  
Seifer reappeared in the room only to see an injured Bahamut and the Knight undefeated.  
  
Knight summoned his sword back to him and decided to go after Seifer.  
  
"Quistis, use your magic to heal Bahamut." Seifer suggested.  
  
Quistis ran beside Bahamut while Seifer and Knight got into a sword fight.  
  
Quistis put her hand on Bahamut's injured wing and whispered, "White Wind." The spelled instantly healed Bahamut's wing.  
  
"Seifer will distract him," she said. "Try to get him from behind."  
  
Seifer and Knight continued crossing blades. Seifer managed to hit Knight a couple times for Seifer's blade was a Gunblade.  
  
Little did Knight know that as he fought Seifer, Bahamut sneaked up from behind and gave him a full blast of fiery breath.  
  
Knight screamed out in pain and anger. Both Bahamut and a human had defeated him.  
  
"You have defeated me, human and dragon." Knight sighed. "I shall give the lady the crystal and join my new master." He then stretched out his hand and made the blue crystal appear around Quistis' neck. "Farewell," and with that, he disappeared.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Ellone suddenly felt a new power within her. She knew instantly that Knight had been defeated and was now her Eidolon. She began to summon him until Ultima Weapon blasted her again. She fell to the floor and gasped for breath. She slowly got up again and this time was able to summon Knight.  
  
When Knight appeared in the room, he used his energy sword and slashed the Ultima Weapon several times causing extreme damage with each blow. The Ultima Weapon was defeated.  
  
Ellone fell to her knees, panting for breath after that long, tiring battle. She looked over at Vincent. He was still in his demon form and unconscious. She crawled over to him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few High Potions. She used them on him. She figured it would help him go back to his normal form. When she saw that the medicine was working and that he returned to his original self, she pulled him out of the Dream World. When she was finished, she fell unconscious.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Cloud and Zell found themselves walking into a bathroom (not bathroom as in where people go do their business, but bathroom as in a room that has a bathtub.)  
  
"Hey cool!" Zell exclaimed.  
  
The tub in the room looked like it belonged to a person of some importance. There were some shelves that had several different soaps and bath oils.  
  
"The girls would get a kick outta this!" Zell said. "Especially Selphie!"  
  
"Zell, I think we should keep looking." Cloud said seriously.  
  
"Geez, c'mon, man!" Zell replied. "No harm in admiring this old fancy stuff!"  
  
"Kill the sorceresses..." A voice inside Cloud's mind said.  
  
"What?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Kill the sorceresses..."  
  
"What's wrong, Cloud?" Zell asked.  
  
Cloud closed his eyes and shook his head.  
  
"Kill them! They stand in my way!"  
  
Cloud suddenly lost control of himself. He ignored Zell's question and began to walk out of the room.  
  
"Hey, man, where are you going?!" Zell asked.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Vincent opened his eyes and was horrified to see Ellone lying on the floor looking battered and unconscious.  
  
"Oh no what have I done?!" He asked himself. He cradled Ellone in his arms. He used a few Cure spells and tried to wake her.  
  
"Ellone, please wake up." He begged.  
  
Ellone's eyes slowly opened. She looked up at Vincent and smiled. "You're alright," she whispered.  
  
"Ellone, what happened?" He asked.  
  
She slowly sat up and sighed.  
  
"We were attacked," she began. "You were hit very hard by that monster and it injured you enough to go into your demon form. You..." She stopped not knowing if the truth would hurt him.  
  
"I what?" He asked.  
  
"You...attacked me," she whispered. "But I'm okay because I used my powers to protect me."  
  
"Is that why you're battered and bruised?" He asked with guilt in his voice.  
  
"No!" She answered quickly. "That monster did all the damage to me. I fought it though....but it took two of my friends to defeat a Guardian and me summoning it. We have four crystals now, Vincent!"  
  
"You could have been killed because of me," he said trying not to look at her.  
  
"Vincent, don't blame yourself!" She said.  
  
"Ellone, I was attacked and put into my demon form which it meant had to fight that thing by yourself! You almost died Ellone. I had to use several Cures to keep you from dying." He said.  
  
"What are you trying to say?" She asked a bit nervous of his answer.  
  
"It's dangerous to be with me," he whispered.  
  
"No, Vincent!" She replied.  
  
"Ellone, I love you and I don't want to hurt you!" He replied.  
  
"You love me?" She asked.  
  
"Yes, Ellone," he answered. "That is why I have to let you go."  
  
"No!" She argued, "I love you too, Vincent, and THAT is why I can't let you let me go!"  
  
"It was a mistake for letting myself fall in love with you," he said slowly. "I have to go back to my world."  
  
"I'll go with you!" She replied desperately trying to get through to him.  
  
"You don't want to do that," he replied. "Where I come from is dangerous. If you come with me, you could get hurt by the monsters there and by me."  
  
"I'm not afraid!" She said.  
  
"I am," he said.  
  
"Vincent, please listen to me," she said holding back her tears. "I can't let you leave my life! I have never been in love until you showed up!"  
  
"I would net be able to live my life if I were to hurt you," he argued. "Besides, what about Squall?"  
  
"What about him?" She asked confused.  
  
"You sent me to your past," he began. "I saw a lot of your memories. I even saw how hurt Squall was when you left."  
  
"Squall has Rinoa," she argued. "He does not need me anymore."  
  
"Ellone," he said putting his hands on her shoulders. "You can do better. You deserve someone pure in heart and soul. Let's face it, I'm a demon inside."  
  
"But you don't want to be," she replied not giving up. "You are a good, descent man, Vincent! I don't care about the risks. I want to be with YOU."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't take that risk." He said.  
  
She could not figure out what else to say. She was still exhausted from the battle with the Ultima Weapon and did not have the strength to argue any further. "I love you, Vincent. I will not let you go." She thought. She finally found love and refused to let go of it.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
"Geez, Cloud, what're doin'?!" Zell asked as Cloud walked down a hall. It was as if a mental map was put into Cloud's brain because for some reason, he knew exactly where Rinoa and Edea were.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Squall stood in the middle of a large room alone. He had managed to get away from Edea and Rinoa before they could do anything. He was going to kill them himself, but he did not have time. He used Cloud and controlled him just like Sephiroth did to kill the two sorceresses.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
"Squall! Where are you?!" Rinoa called as she walked back downstairs.  
  
"Rinoa! Edea!" Zell yelled back running to them.  
  
"Zell, what's wrong?" Edea asked.  
  
"Cloud's coming!" Zell answered. "I can't stop him! He's being controlled by something!"  
  
"Squall," Rinoa murmured.  
  
"Zell, look out!" Edea called.  
  
Zell turned around to see Cloud holding his sword high.  
  
"Sorry, man," Zell said and punched him in the gut.  
  
Cloud coughed, but quickly recovered. He raised his sword again and got ready to strike Edea.  
  
Rinoa ran behind Cloud and used her powers to knock him unconscious.  
  
"Things are worse," Edea said. "Squall is missing and he is using Cloud to do things. We have to find Squall now."  
  
"What about Cloud?" Zell asked.  
  
"Rinoa, I think you need to face Squall." Edea said. "I will watch Cloud."  
  
Fear came across Rinoa's face and she simply nodded. She knew she had to face Squall...alone. 


	10. The Angel VS the OneWinged Angel

Everyone gathered at the entrance of the temple to discuss the current change of events.  
  
"So let me get this straight," Irvine said. "Rinoa is going to face Squall...alone?"  
  
"That is correct," Edea said gravely.  
  
"But, what if Squall hurts Rinoa?!" Selphie gasped.  
  
"I'm willing to take that chance," Rinoa said.  
  
"I still think it's a bad idea," Seifer commented.  
  
"Do you have a better idea?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Stuff it, spike boy!" Seifer replied angrily.  
  
"Boys, this is no time to fight!" Edea cut in.  
  
"Look, I'm running out of time," Rinoa said. "I have to get going."  
  
"Good luck, Rinoa." Ellone said.  
  
"Thanks," Rinoa said and walked away.  
  
Rinoa used her sorceress powers to figure out exactly where Squall was. As she walked to the location, her heart pounded in her chest. She did not want to admit it, but she was very scared. Scared of Squall hurting her and him having to live with it, scared of her killing him, and scared that this whole plan would fail.  
  
She could feel the evil of Sephiroth the closer she got to the secret room Squall was in.  
  
Rinoa's palms were sweating and she reached out to open the door that led to Squall.  
  
She slowly walked into the room.  
  
The room was huge. It had several large pillars spread throughout the room. There were blue curtains hanging from the ceiling and a large throne out the end of the room. This room must have been the sorceress' throne room.  
  
"My..my...my..brave young sorceress, eh?"  
  
Rinoa looked up to see Squall....or Sephiroth...hovering above.  
  
"Squall...please.." Rinoa said.  
  
Squall floated down in front of Rinoa.  
  
"It's too late, sorceress," Squall sneered. "I have fully developed into a perfect clone of the great Sephiroth."  
  
"No, it's not too late!" Rinoa shot back.  
  
"You don't believe me?" He asked.  
  
"No!" she answered simply.  
  
"Fool." He replied.  
  
She had enough of this. She lunged forward hopefully to knock Squall unconscious, but instead, he grabbed her shoulders and started sending painful energy into her body.  
  
Rinoa cried out in agony. She tightly closed her eyes and a new energy began to form in her body, but this energy was her own.  
  
Squall raised an eyebrow when he saw angel like wings sprout from Rinoa's back.  
  
She looked up at him and kicked him in the stomach and flew up.  
  
"Flying won't help you, sorceress." Squall laughed.  
  
A fireball appeared in her hand and she threw it at Squall.  
  
"That was extremely weak!" He laughed. He held his hands together and sent a beam of blue light at her.  
  
She screamed out in pain and fell to the floor.  
  
"Squall isn't gone and it's still not too late," she said in a deadly whisper.  
  
"Oh?" he towered her in an intimidating manner.  
  
"And what, pray tell, makes you believe that Squall Leonhart is still alive, you foolish girl?" he asked calmly.  
  
His calmness sent shivers threw her body, but she kept her ground.  
  
'Maybe,' she thought, 'just maybe, if I keep believing in you, Squall, you'll come back to me,'  
  
"He won't come back," he said, as though reading her thoughts.  
  
"Oh?" she questioned, biding time.  
  
He laughed evilly.  
  
"Squall loves me, and he would NOT leave me," she said.  
  
"'Squall loves me,'" he mimicked in a girly voice.  
  
She closed her eyes tightly.  
  
"That's right," she said.  
  
"Wrong. If he loves you so much, why isn't he here with you now? If your love is so strong, why couldn't he use it to fight me?" he asked.  
  
"Because you weakened him when he least expected, you sleaze," she answered calmly.  
  
"A sleaze am I? Well, better a sleaze than weakling like your weak boyfriend,"  
  
She felt like she had been slapped.  
  
First she felt sadness then pain and anger.  
  
She flew up again and began saying "Sleep", but she only got "Sle--," out before he sent another bright blue beam towards her.  
  
Meanwhile,  
  
"I'm soooo worried about Rinoa." Selphie commented as they all sat around waiting.  
  
"We all are," Zell added.  
  
Another thing on Edea's mind was Ellone and Vincent. She knew they had shared a kiss, but now they were not even talking to each other nor were they sitting next to each other. Something happened.  
  
"Ellone, can I talk to you in private?" Edea asked.  
  
"Okay," Ellone said.  
  
The two women walked away from everyone else so they could talk in private.  
  
"What's going on between you and Vincent?" Edea asked.  
  
"W-what do you mean?" Ellone asked surprised by the question.  
  
"I'm sensing so much tension between you two." Edea said with a motherly concern.  
  
Tears began to swell up in Ellone's eyes.  
  
"He said we can't be together because he's scared he'll hurt me," she answered.  
  
"What do you mean?" Edea asked.  
  
"There's a demon inside him, Matron," Ellone asked. The tears now streaming down her cheek. "He's scared the demon will come out and hurt me."  
  
"I see." Edea said.  
  
"I love him!" Ellone cried. "I want to be with him!"  
  
Edea pulled Ellone in a comforting embrace.  
  
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
Rinoa hit the floor hard.  
  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." Squall said and stepped on her left wing.  
  
She cried out in pain again.  
  
"You're no match for me." He said.  
  
Rinoa looked up at Squall..no Sephiroth...this was not Squall, with distaste.  
  
She used all the energy she had and slapped Squall with her right wing.  
  
He fell over and she flew back up.  
  
Without meaning to, she threw an Ultima Spell at him.  
  
The Ultima Spell was extremely deadly. Only lucky and strong warriors could survive the spell.  
  
Rinoa gasped when she realized what spell she used.  
  
A white cloud of energy and magic engulfed Squall and exploded.  
  
"Squall!" Rinoa gasped.  
  
Squall laid on the floor feeling dazed.  
  
Rinoa noticed that he also dropped his Gunblade. She then quickly dived down to get it.  
  
When Squall saw what she was doing, he too lunged towards it, but she got to it first.  
  
When she had the Gunblade in her hand, she turned around only to find Squall accidentally running himself into it.  
  
"No!" she gasped.  
  
The blade had gone right into his stomach.  
  
"S-Squall..." She stammered.  
  
Squall took a few steps backwards and then fell to the floor.  
  
"Rinoa..I'm sorry." He said and fell unconscious.  
  
Rinoa vision had come true. The pool of blood was Squall's, the body was Squall's, the blood on the Gunblade was Squall's, and the person who stabbed Squall was Rinoa.  
  
Rinoa dropped the Gunblade and fell to her knees and began to cry. She did not even notice the white crystal that now hung from a gold chain around her neck.  
  
Squall was the Fifth Crystal Guardian.  
  
A/N: Thanks to my sister for helping out with the Squall and Rinoa battle. Is Squall dead? Stayed tuned for the last chapter to find out. 


	11. The End?

Author's Note: Sorry it took me long to write this chapter. I've been busy with my X-Men story and Legend of Zelda story. Here's the last chapter to this story.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Rinoa sat beside Squall's hospital bed looking at his lifeless face.  
  
After he was stabbed and after she discovered she was wearing the fifth crystal, she immediately told everyone else what had happened and they all helped Squall onto the Ragnarok. It had been a very stressful flight. Squall had not woke up, his face was pale, and he looked dead.  
  
Rinoa took Squall's hand and sighed.  
  
"Please wake up, Squall," she whispered. "I don't wanna lose you again."  
  
"He still hasn't woke up?"  
  
Rinoa looked behind her and saw Squall's father, Laguna.  
  
"No," she sighed.  
  
"He will," Laguna said and sat next to Rinoa. "His love for you will bring him back."  
  
"Thank you," she said.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Seifer stood up after waiting a couple hours in the waiting room with Zell, Irvine, and Selphie.  
  
"I'm going to get something to eat," he said.  
  
"Okay," Zell said.  
  
Seifer walked to the cafeteria and saw Quistis sitting at a table poking at her salad with her fork.  
  
"Hey, Quistis,"  
  
She looked up and gave him a fake smile.  
  
"Hey," she said.  
  
"Can I sit with you?" he asked.  
  
"Sure," she answered.  
  
He looked at her as she continued to poke at her salad.  
  
"You're worried about Squall aren't you?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," she said.  
  
"Me too," he sighed.  
  
"You are?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure," he answered.  
  
"You've changed a lot, Seifer," she commented.  
  
"Is that a good thing?" he asked leaning in towards her.  
  
"Yes," she whispered.  
  
"Quistis...I---"  
  
"I know," she cut him off. "I'm in love with you too."  
  
He smiled and kissed her.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Odine's lab,  
  
"I gave Squall ze medicine and it has knocked out each and every Jenova cell," Odine reported.  
  
"That's a relief," Ellone said.  
  
"And," Odine continued. "Zere's enough for Vincent and Cloud."  
  
Ellone looked at Vincent.  
  
"You..can cure me?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," Odine answered.  
  
"And me?" Cloud asked.  
  
Odine nodded.  
  
"Do it!" Cloud and Vincent said in unison.  
  
Odine handed Cloud and Vincent a small bottle of blue liquid.  
  
"Drink up," Odine said.  
  
Cloud drank his first.  
  
After he swallowed it, he felt a strange sensation in his body, but then it went away. He did not feel much different, but he was.  
  
"Your turn, Vincent," Odine said. "But be warned, yours may be painful since you have a demon inside you."  
  
Vincent nodded and drank his.  
  
Odine was not joking when he said there would pain.  
  
Vincent winced in pain and fell to his knees.  
  
Ellone put her hands on his shoulders.  
  
"Vincent?" she asked.  
  
He put his hands on his head and tried his best not to scream from agony.  
  
"Odine, is he alright?" Ellone asked with panic.  
  
"Yes," Odine answered as if he knew this would happen.  
  
Ellone's eyes widened when she saw his left hand turn normal. A smile came across her face.  
  
Finally all the pain was gone.  
  
Vincent looked up and opened his eyes.  
  
Ellone gasped and then smiled.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"Your eyes..." she said.  
  
"What about them?" he asked.  
  
She reached into her purse and pulled out a small mirror.  
  
Vincent looked at himself in the mirror and saw his eyes were no longer red. They were now a beautiful emerald green.  
  
He put the mirror down and looked at Ellone.  
  
"I love you," he said. "And I want to stay here with you."  
  
Tears of joy filled her eyes and he kissed her passionately.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Rinoa jumped when she suddenly felt Squall squeeze her hand.  
  
"Squall?" she said.  
  
Squall's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Rinoa.  
  
"Rinoa....what happened?" he asked.  
  
"You're alright now," she said. "It's over."  
  
"And the others?"  
  
"They're all fine," she said. "Odine removed the Jenova cells and you're back to your normal self."  
  
"I'm so sorry, Rinoa," he said. "I could not control what I was doing."  
  
"Don't worry about it," she whispered.  
  
He put his hand on her cheek and tears fell down her cheeks.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
One week later,  
  
"I really need to get back home," Cloud said.  
  
"We'll miss you," Rinoa said.  
  
"Yeah, I'll miss this place too," he said.  
  
Everyone followed Cloud to the area where the portal was which was on the edge of Balamb north of Balamb Garden.  
  
Odine knew how to open it and came too.  
  
"Now if you ever want to return, use zis." He said and gave Cloud a small crystal-key.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Cloud said. He then looked at Vincent and Ellone. "Sorry I can't stick around for the wedding, but Tifa is probably worried by now."  
  
"Good luck in your future," Vincent said.  
  
"You too," Cloud replied.  
  
Everyone said good-bye and thanked Cloud for everything he did. Then he left.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Midgar,  
  
Cloud walked through the streets of Midgar looking for Tifa's house.  
  
When he found her house, he knocked on the door. But it was not Tifa who answered.  
  
"Who are you?" Cloud asked the man who opened the door.  
  
"I'm Kile," he answered. "Who are you?"  
  
"Is Tifa home?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Yes, I'll go get her,"  
  
After a few seconds Tifa came to the door.  
  
"Cloud?!" she gasped.  
  
"Tifa, who was that man?" Cloud asked.  
  
Tifa closed the door and stepped outside.  
  
"Where have you been?" she asked. "You've been gone almost two years."  
  
"Two years?" Cloud asked. "I was in Balamb for a couple weeks."  
  
"Balamb?" she asked.  
  
"It's a long story," he said.  
  
"I want to hear it," she insisted.  
  
He nodded and told her everything.  
  
"I can't believe it," Tifa said. "I thought Hojo was dead....and then a man became Sephiroth..."  
  
"Apparently a couple weeks there is a couple years here," he said.  
  
"Cloud....that man," she began. "Is my husband."  
  
"What?!" Cloud gasped.  
  
"I thought you were never going to return," she said. "And I ended up falling in love with him. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to wait."  
  
"I understand," he said.  
  
"I've got to go," she said. "Will you stay here or go back to Balamb?"  
  
"I'll probably go back to Balamb," he said. "You know since Vincent's there and I made some new friends."  
  
"I see," she replied. "Good-bye, Cloud." With that, she walked back into her house and closed the door.  
  
Cloud looked at the crystal-key in his hand and decided to use it. Now he was glad Odine gave it to him.  
  
When Cloud was back in Balamb, he saw someone he thought he would never see ever again.  
  
"Aeris?!"  
  
Author's Note: The end! Or is it? Nope, there's gonna be a sequel that is if you all want one. So how is Aeris alive or is it Aeris? If you do want a sequel, it may be a little while because I'm working on two and a half stories now. When I say half I mean I'm co-writing an X-men/Harry Potter story. Plus I may start another X-Men fic soon so I'll be pretty busy. I'll most likely write the sequel after I'm finished with my Zelda story. But it will take a while because it's only at the beginning of the story. But there's always the possibility I'll get bored out of those stories and take a break for the sequel. Whew! Anyway, thanks to:  
  
Ima hopeless romantic  
  
Cloud-123  
  
Squall Leonhart14  
  
Kupo  
  
Dyne1  
  
!~*Moonlight_chick*~!  
  
The Author  
  
V a l k y r i e5  
  
Wolfspeaker1  
  
RoMayDrako  
  
And my sister, StRaWbErRiEs AnD BlUeBeRrIeS  
  
THANK YOU ALL! 


	12. Sequel

I posted the sequel to this story under my AngelofMercy86 name. It is called "Shadows of the Past" and it is under the Final Fantasy VII category.


End file.
